Testers' guide

1. What a test is

Each test has a code (for example BOD-STD-01). You draft one pattern in Easeline with the settings given for that code, print it, sew a toile and report what had to be corrected.

You have 45 days from the day you are approved to finish your tests.

Every test in a round runs on one version of the engine. The version is printed on the pattern, and formulas are not changed in the middle of a round except to fix a fault.

2. Measuring

• Have another person measure you, or measure in front of a mirror. Close-fitting clothes or underwear, no heels.
• Measure every measurement twice. If the two differ by more than 0.5 cm, measure a third time and write all three.
• Circumferences: the tape level, snug but not tight. Lengths: from fixed points (natural waist, bust point, the bone at the neck).
• Photograph the tape on the three main measurements (bust, waist, hip).
• Enter in Easeline what you measured: no rounding and no "correction by feel". The Client step shows a drawing for each measurement.

3. Drafting and printing

• In the Design step choose exactly the settings of your test code, and do not change the defaults you were given.
• In the Print step, choose your test code from your list of tests. The app suggests a test for the garment type, preferring one for which no pattern has been downloaded yet; tests with a previous download are marked in the list. Check that the selected code is the test you are carrying out. For a print that is not a test, choose 'Not a test'.
• The selected code is printed on the first page and in the footer of every page, with the engine version, and kept with your download.
• The list is shown while your approved beta access is active and your account has assigned tests. Accounts without listed tests, including the owner, have a manual field. If you expected a list and do not see it, check that you signed in with the email used for your approved application and contact us.
• Print at 100% (no "fit to page") and check the 10 cm square on the first page with a ruler before you cut.

4. The toile

Sew a toile from a medium non-stretch fabric (cotton, muslin or calico). If you change the pattern before sewing, tell us: that toile does not count as a test of the pattern as drafted, though the information is still useful.

5. Photographs

• Garments for the upper body, dresses and jackets: front, back, right side, left side, close-ups of the shoulder, the armhole and the seams.
• Trousers: front, back, right side, left side, front rise, back rise, knee and leg.
• Stand straight, camera at mid-body height, good light, without pulling or arranging the garment. You may keep your face out of the frame.

The tests of round 1

Round 1 tests only what is built and stable.

Your corrections, in centimetres

• Write every change you made to the toile or the pattern, relative to a fixed point and with its direction: for example, front shoulder −0.7 cm (shorter), side seam at the waist +0.8 cm, back crotch extension +1.2 cm.
• Say whether a part could not be assembled, whether a mark was unclear, and the length of every pair of seams that should meet: a difference of more than 0.3 cm is worth marking.
• Say whether you changed the pattern before sewing.

Level of a correction: up to 0.5 cm is small, 0.5 to 1.5 cm medium, more than 1.5 cm significant.